ANALYTICAL-SCALE SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID EXTRACTION - A PROMISING TECHNIQUE FOR THE DETERMINATION OF POLLUTANTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATRICES

Analytical-scale supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has become of in creasing interest in the last few years because of its efficiency and rapidity concerning the extraction of organic compounds prior to separ ation and detection by chromatographic techniques. SFE has several adv antages over classical solvent extractions such as faster analysis, be tter selectivity, higher efficiency and the absence of toxic solvent w aste, which reduces safety hazards. This paper describes the principle s of SFE and its coupling with chromatographic techniques; numerous en vironmental applications are also reported.